Handel Trio Sonata in D major, Op. 5 No. 2, HWV 397

Trio Sonata in G minor, Op. 2 No. 8, HWV 393

Violin Sonata in A major, Op. 1 No. 3, HWV 361

Geminiani Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 4 No. 8

Purcell 10 Sonatas in 4 parts: No. 6 in G minor, Z807

12 Sonatas of 3 parts: No. 6 in C major, Z795; No. 3 in D minor, Z792

Boyce Sonata No. 1 in A minor

Avison Sonata for harpsichord, 2 violins and cello in D major, Op. 8 No. 3

 

Rachel Podger director/violin

Brecon Baroque

 

Illustrated talk by Richard Wigmore

 

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries London was the most vibrant and cosmopolitan musical centre in Europe. Alongside music for theatre and chapel, a rich tradition of chamber music developed, whether for performance at court or in private salons. Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque, together with speaker Richard Wigmore, celebrate Baroque London’s musical pre-eminence in a programme of string sonatas ranging from Purcell’s intricate, inward-looking sonatas in 3 and 4 parts to the breezy tunefulness of William Boyce and Thomas Arne. En route they take in a flamboyant sonata by the expatriate Italian virtuoso Francesco Geminiani, and two captivating trio sonatas by Handel, the German émigré who inherited Purcell’s mantle as ‘England’s own Orpheus’.